(1)Sorting the chaff from the wheat (2)Core elements of an ......Every year, over 50,000 children...
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WHAT MAKES A GOOD ABSTRACT (1) Sorting the chaff from the wheat (2) Core elements of an abstract (3) Where to start the process
Transcript of (1)Sorting the chaff from the wheat (2)Core elements of an ......Every year, over 50,000 children...
WHAT MAKES A GOOD ABSTRACT
(1)Sorting the chaff from the wheat
(2)Core elements of an abstract
(3)Where to start the process
WHEAT FROM CHAFF
WHEAT OR CHAFF?
WHEAT OR CHAFF?
WHICH ON IS BETTER?
WHICH ON IS BETTER?
WHICH ON IS BETTER?
THE CORE ELEMENTS
CLINICAL RESEARCH PARADIGM
• Study Hypothesis • Research Design • Population • Intervention/Exposure • Comparison Group • Outcomes of Interest • Time • Bonus - Sources of Bias • Double Bonus - Strategies to overcome bias
HOW SHOULD YOU SET UP YOUR ABSTRACT?
INTRODUCTION •Why did you do the study? – 1 line
• Ideally include the study hypothesis. METHODS •How did you test the hypothesis? (DESIGN) •Who did you study? (POPULATION) •What did you do? (INTERV/EXPOSURE) •Compared to what? (COMPARISON) •What did you measure? (OUTCOME)
INTRO & METHODS
HOW SHOULD YOU SET UP YOUR ABSTRACT?
RESULTS • How participants were in the study and what did
they look like? • What were the results of primary hypothesis?
• Present values, rates for main outcomes • Effect Size: point estimates and CI with significance for: • MUST include: Primary and secondary outcomes
• Provide as much RELEVANT data as possible. • DO NOT provide results without numbers
RESULTS
HOW SHOULD YOU SET UP YOUR ABSTRACT?
CONCLUSIONS • Short • Precise
• Not too overblow • Don’t waste time on “more research is
needed”….we all know that
CONCLUSIONS
WHAT’S MISSING?
WHAT’S MISSING?
WHICH ON IS BETTER?
WHERE DO I START?
CONSULT STATEMENTS
• STROBE (Observational): http://www.strobe-statement.org/index.php?id=available-checklists
• CONSORT (RCTs): • http://www.consort-statement.org • PRISMA (Meta-analyses): • http://www.prisma-statement.org/statement.htm
CONSULT GUIDELINES
FIND YOUR HEROES
General writing tips• Start early, give your supervisor enough time!
• Get a good successful abstract as an example
• Prevent vague words, acronyms, negatives
• Read the instructions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Try to write in an active voice
• Write to engage, not to bore!
• Learn how to cut
• KISS
Tell a good story!
Tell your story!
Compare:
• Incidence of CDH is 1 in 3000 newborns
Tell your story!
Compare:
• Every 10 minutes a baby with CDH is born
• More than 50,000 babies are born with CDH each year
• CDH is as common as Cystic Fibrosis or Spina Bifida
Tell your story!
Compare:
• Mortality of CDH is 10-20%
Tell your story!
Compare:
• During this workshop one CDH baby died of abnormal lung development
• Since the year 2000, over 300,000 CDH babies have died worldwide from this disease
Prewriting 70%• Collect, synthesize, organize
• Brainstorm the take home message
• Work out the ideas away from the computer
First draft 10%• Just get it on paper
• Do not worry about style yet
• Do not be a perfectionist
• Focus on logical organization
Revisions 20%• Read out loud
• Get rid of clutter
• Do not be afraid to cut
• Get good feedback
Final version• Make sure you adhere to instructions
• All elements are included in your abstract (background, hypothesis, objectives, methods, main results, conclusion)
• Not too many words?
• Does it state why your research is important?
Writing course Stanford
https://lagunita.stanford.edu/courses/Medicine/SciWrite-SP/SelfPaced/about
Basic Science examplesDue to the combination of improved prenatal diagnosis of congenital anomalies such as congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) and the recently achieved major advancement in (stem) cellular therapy, new (prenatal)treatment modalities are on the horizon. However, the promising bench results in the stem cell research field have not yet been translated to the clinic. Therefore, the aim of this project is toinvestigate the potential of stem cells obtained from primary human patient cells, induced Pluripotent Stem (iPS) cells, in prenatal (cellular) therapy. First, the generation of a cell line from human primary lung fibroblasts from children with CDH and normal fetuses will be evaluated. Second, the generation of iPS cells will be tested in a mesenchymal stromal cell line and from cord blood cells from CDH patients and age-matched controls. Finally, a protocol will be designed to use these cells for prenatal cellular therapy in the Nitrofen rat model of CDH. In conclusion, we aim to design a protocol for the generation of human patient iPS cells that can subsequently be modificated and then be used for the prenatalmodulation of the natural course of congenital anomalies using the patient's own cells.
Basic Science examplesPurpose
We have previously identified microRNA miR-10a to be upregulated in human hypoplastic CDH lungs after birth. We hypothesized that miR-10a expression is disturbed during lung development in the nitrofen rat model of CDH. In this study we aimed to define the role of miR-10a in both normal and abnormal lung development.
Methods We used the nitrofen rat model of CDH, and used real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and fluorescent in situ hybridization to study quantitative and qualitative miR-10a expression during lung development. We then used miR-10a mimics and inhibitors to perform loss- and gain-of function studies in an embryonic lung explant model.
Results miR-10a expression was reduced in early nitrofen-induced abnormal lung development. We observed most expression in the lung mesenchyme, but concentration of miR-10a expression in nitrofen-induced abnormal lung epithelium towards term. Nitrofen-induced hypoplastic lung branching in the lung explant model could be reversed by increasing miR-10a expression using mimics.
Conclusion We observed lower miR-10a expression in early nitrofen-induced abnormal lung development. Normalizing this expression in our lung explant model improved nitrofen-induced abnormal lung development. We will explore these potential beneficial effects of prenatal microRNA therapy in future studies.
Basic Science examplesAs a pediatric surgeon, I see the breathing difficulties that congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) babies have after I close their diaphragmatic defect. Therefore, the goal of my research is to discover the mechanisms of lung hypoplasia in CDH to develop innovative prenatal therapies to prevent the abnormal lung development.
The following discoveries guided the theoretical framework of this proposal:
(1) human CDH lungs have higher miR-200b expression and higher expression is associated with better outcomes;
(2) miR-200b expression fluctuates: early nitrofen-induced abnormal lung development is associated with decreased miR-200b abundance; late lung hypoplasia in CDH is linked to (compensatory) upregulation of miR-200b;
(3) increasing miR-200b expression with mimics rescues lung hypoplasia in vitro.
The current proposal is designed to study our hypothesis that decreased miR-200b expression results in abnormal lung development and that increasing miR-200b expression can correct lung hypoplasia in CDH.
Our specific aims for this project are:
Aim 1. To investigate if normalizing miR-200b expression can rescue abnormal lung development in CDH.
Aim 2: To determine the specific targets of miR-200b during normal and abnormal lung development.
Aim 3. To develop an innovative prenatal therapy to specifically target the hypoplastic lung cells most in need of miR-200b therapy.
Basic Science examplesEvery year, over 50,000 children are born with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) associated with abnormal lung development resulting in lung hypoplasia and persistent
pulmonary hypertension1–3. CDH occurs as frequently as cystic fibrosis, but the
pathogenesis is poorly understood. Smaller lung size, lower number of airway generations
and a thicker mesenchyme characterize the abnormal lungs in CDH1. We have previously shown an inherent lung development defect in CDH4. We recently reported increased
expression of microRNA miR-200b in human CDH lungs5. MiR-200b plays a role in
epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in cancer6, but its role in lung development is undefined. Here we show that miR-200b regulates distal airway development. We found
reduced distal airway branching and thicker alveolar walls in miR-200b knockout mice
resulting in lungs with higher tissue resistance and more lung fibroblasts, thus recapitulating lung hypoplasia as seen in CDH. In the nitrofen rat model of CDH, we
observed decreased miR-200b expression in hypoplastic lungs causing disturbed epithelial-
mesenchymal interactions via SMAD-driven TGF- signaling. This resulted in decreased
airway branching. Our results demonstrate that miR-200b regulates distal airway development through maintaining the epithelial integrity that is disturbed in pulmonary
hypoplasia associated with CDH.
Tom Jessel, ColumbiaThe precision of skilled forelimb movement has long been presumed to rely on rapid feedback corrections triggered by internally directed copies of outgoing motor commands, but the functional relevance of inferred internal copy circuits has remained unclear. One class of spinal interneurons implicated in the control of mammalian forelimb movement, cervical propriospinal neurons (PNs), has the potential to convey an internal copy of premotor signals through dual innervation of forelimb-innervating motor neurons and precerebellar neurons of the lateral reticular nucleus. Here we examine whether the PN internal copy pathway functions in the control of goal-directed reaching. In mice, PNs include a genetically accessible subpopulation of cervical V2a interneurons, and their targeted ablation perturbs reaching while leaving intact other elements of forelimb movement. Moreover, optogenetic activation of the PN internal copy branch recruits a rapid cerebellar feedback loop that modulates forelimb motor neuron activity and severely disrupts reaching kinematics. Our findings implicate V2a PNs as the focus of an internal copy pathway assigned to the rapid updating of motor output during reaching behaviour.
Last words• Make it easy for the reviewers
• No spelling mistakes!
• No abbreviations
• No references
• Start early
• Do not duplicate
Bonus tip• Try an ABSTRACT WRITING SPRINT
• Get together with your research team and write the abstract together
• Come prepared, set agenda
• Whiteboard and Google Docs
• Democratic process, learn from each other
